Feral/Farm Colony - progress so far

[KittyC4]

Hi,

I wanted to start a diary about our efforts to control a colony of cats which has expanded beyond control on my reclusive brother's farm.

However, I thought perhaps, I would share the progress with others so that I could receive a little guidance and support as well.

There has always been a small group of cats on the farm. They were working cats and more accurately described as semi-feral.

However, my eldest son, who has autism, has grown very attached to the cats and he has tamed and fed many of them. My husband has also taken over the role of feeding the cats. As a result the colony has expanded to about 30 adult cats and numerous kittens.

I knew something had to be done so I contacted a local charity who capture, spay, re-home (often on other farms) and arrange treatment for cats.

The charity have alerted me to a 'feral cat grant' as well, so there will be help with the costs.

Yesterday, the first action took place.

The cats all have names. So Fluffy and Pusshell (two poorly cats) were the first to be captured. These two cats have long term illnesses and I think it is almost certain they will be PTS.

Next, Hilux and her four, one -week old kittens were captured and Frishy and her four, two-day old kittens were trapped. The mothers and kittens will be kept together in a foster home until the kittens are old enough to be adopted. The mothers will be spayed and either re-homed or returned.

A young ginger tom (Corncat) was also trapped and he will be neutered and either returned or rehomed.

My eldest son was present and I was very proud of him. He loves the cats, but he understands that some of them may have new homes (I have not spoken to him about the poorly cats yet).

It is going to be a long job, but at last a start has been made.

There are several more mother cats with litters of very young kittens and several toms. I do not envy anyone who has to handle the dominant tomcat.

I will keep updating this thread, but if anyone has experience of this type of 'project' and has any advice that may be helpful, I would be grateful to receive it.

I am also really thankful for the charity concerned.

Is it the RSPCA who have done this trapping? One of the smaller charities (if there is one) might need more volunteers, although I accept he might be limited in what he is able to cope with.

Hello,

It is one of the smaller charities. Yes, there is a little bit of a problem with respect to my son's sensitivities. However, although he is very upset about this huge change in the cat population at the farm, he does realise the importance of helping the animals.

Those are adorable kittens. Will they be able to be homed with other cats now they have survived cat flu - how does that work?

Hello,

I am pretty sure the kittens will be put up for adoption as soon as they are old enough. I think the system is that the tame cats (and little kittens who will be tamed) will be put up for adoption and the semi feral and feral cats will be either re-homed on farms, stables and smallholdings, with a small number returning to the farm.

Just a quick update. The dominant Tom and one semi feral female are still at the farm. However, the cat charity has met directly with my son and assured him that the farm will never be totally devoid of cats. My son was getting very anxious at the prospect of there being no cats at the farm, even for a short time.

The charity will take the Tom and, hopefully return him the next day. The the focus will be on catching and spaying the female cat.

The two other cats who will be returning have just finished feeding their kittens, so they will be spayed once their milk has dried.

So, there will be a small group of four cats at the farm, within two or three weeks. They have a much better shelter and we will be able to feed them and pay for any vet bills if they become necessary.

I hope your son was reassured :)

Yes, one of the very positive effects of this situation is that my son has communicated really clearly with representatives of the cat charity and they have respected his views, particularly with respect to not leaving the farm without any cats, even for a short time.

Well,

The dominant Tom was caught, neutered and returned (he came back on Sunday evening), but the other two or three cats are hiding. The cat charity came yesterday and could not find any of the cats.

We have been told not to leave food out for the cats, so they will be hungry and the cat charity will come again over the next two or three days.

I know one of the tamer females has become very nervous (not surprising since nearly all the colony has been trapped and taken away). Do you think that they will come out of hiding once they get hungry?

It must be very odd for the remaining cats - suddenly so many fewer cats and those that have returned slowly changing character as hormones disappear. My neighbour adopted a feral tom - he was a big marauding bully but after neutering he has turned into a complete softy who doesn't go far from her house and now leaves mine well alone.

Hopefully hunger will move them into the open soon.

Yes they should reappear. Is the charity using automatic or manual traps. (Automatic traps have an automatic mechanism that shuts the door when a cat enters, manual traps have to be manually closed by someone holding a piece of string).

If they are using automatic traps this can make life very difficult and can result in some cats never being caught as they become trap-shy. With manual traps the operator can make sure the most important cats (pregnant/then other female/then kittens/then males) are trapped in the right order and only when the other cats aren't looking. If they are using manual traps then I'm sure they will get the remaining ones.

Thank you Thecatneuterer. They are automatic traps (unfortunately). The other cats have also been around when the trapping has taken place, although this was very hard to avoid with a colony of 30 or more.

The one remaining Tom has returned, neutered, so it may be less likely that the remaining two females would fall pregnant (although other Toms could visit). We are hoping that two other females (now neutered will return.

Oh dear. With manual traps there are ways to avoid the whole colony seeing what is going on. The charity really need manual traps and training. We can send them blueprints and instructions if they ask us (Celia Hammonds).

An unneutered female will always be found by a male. Males travel from up to half a mile if they can smell a female in heat. Lets hope they come back. You may need to use dummy traps for a while when they do come back (you put the food in but they don't go off) to get them all used to the traps again. Sadly though you may never get them and a colony will be created somewhere else. That charity really needs the right equipment! Automatic trapping always gets some cats, but rarely all of them, and if the ones that are left are female then it's a disaster.

There are just two female cats and the neutered male. One of the female cats is very friendly (even now) with my eldest son but not with anyone else; the other is feral and has never even succumbed to my eldest son's charms.

There may be a chance that the friendlier cat may be caught with the help of my son, but the feral one hides from humans. I will suggest the fake trap idea to the charity.

The charity are being a little inpatient (perhaps understandably so). They have arrived at the farm on several occasions and been unable to catch the remaining cats (the two females).

Part of the problem is that food is being left out for the cats, even though I have asked my son not to leave it out. The other problem is that the cats are very, very nervous and hide.

Added to that, it is summer and there is plenty of prey for the cats to hunt, so they are often not around the buildings and, I have not seen one of the cats for weeks and I think she may have roamed away.

The charity say they are not going to return any more cats (I think they have one more that they were going to return) until they can catch the remaining female (s).

I do not know where we stand on this. There are possibly two entire female cats who hide or hunt anywhere on the 100 acres of farmland, which includes 11 acres of quite dense woodland. My son still leaves food out for them, despite all the warnings and advice, but I do not feel this is the major problem. The main issue is that the cats are terrified of the the traps and unfamiliar humans. In fact, my son caught the main female on Monday, when the charity was there, but she escaped (his arms are quite deeply scratched).

The charity say they cannot return the remaining cat (s) because there will soon be a kitten problem again. This is probably very likely and it is something I definitely want to avoid.

I am just a bit stuck with this problem.

The problem here is your son. He should feed when the charity aren't coming (to establish a routine) but he must not, under any circumstances, feed them on the day when they are coming (and they should also have less the day before). If he can't cooperate then they won't be caught and the charity will stop coming. He must also not, under any circumstances, try to catch any with his hands. That will never be successful (unless it's being done by a professional, and maybe not even then) and will scare the cats more.

What can you do to get him to cooperate? Could you move in for a bit for example?

Yes, I think you are right. The last cat was captured last night. She was very hungry and eventually went into a trap. She is at the vets today.

So, that is most of the job done now. When the last cat and her sister (who is still with the charity) return, there will be a colony of about five cats. These cats will be spayed vaccinated and have a much more adequate shelter. It has taken a long time, but it has been worth it.

Thank you for keeping us updated. It has been a real labour of love. I hope your son is adjusting to the new set up.

Oh that is a relief (it's been worrying me!). Well done for getting this all sorted out.

It really is a relief for all of us. The last cat (Cleo) is pregnant, but I think she can still be spayed.

My son has been amazing. He has been talking with one of the charity workers in particular and he has taken most of the responsibility for making the new accommodation into a happy place for cats.

Hello OP. I'm involved with many TNR groups where I live and I have absolutely loved your posts!

Catching cats is indeed an art form - I've had to wrestle some into towels like fajitas when the traps wouldn't work...

I currently have a beach rescue foster cat in my spare room, so I totally feel for your son.

What a lovely young man he is and you sound so caring together.

Please do keep us updated and more photos please please!

Thank you. I am going to get some photos of the cats once they have settled down.

The charity have some heartrending photos of the little kittens when they were poorly. One of the tiny kittens had car flu and nearly died. they gave her 2 hourly feeds, decongestants, antibiotics and there are pictures of the tiny cat snuggling up to her foster mother.

The volunteers have been at the farm at 6.30 in the morning and 10 30 at night. They are utterly dedicated and I admire anyone who works for these charities

My eldest son lives and breathes cats and really does seem to have a way of gaining their trust.

There will be more photos soon.

Wow! What a great result though. All of the cats neutered so no more of them!
It's wonderful your son can work on making the shelter/accomodation for the cats. AM sure he'll have a sense of achievement once it's finished.
I look forward to the photos!

Thanks for sharing your story, I've really enjoyed reading it. Your son sounds amazing.